BRUSSELS (Brussels Morning) – Are you a morning person or a night owl? The professional world revolves very much around the nine-to-five mentality. So if you want to count, it’s best to stick something out in the morning.
1. Don’t hit snooze
Lie down for just a little longer… just 10 minutes, and then another 10 minutes, and before you know it, you’re still in bed an hour later. A good start to the day means getting up on time. Otherwise you will fall behind schedule from the start. Bye bye productive morning. Jumping out of bed immediately when your alarm goes off is the message. It may hurt, but running behind the facts for a whole day isn’t your thing either.
2. Sports
Going for a walk or exercise before work instead of after provides an energy boost. Studies show that exercising late at night makes it difficult to fall asleep due to the energy surge.
3. Breakfast
Not eating enough breakfast, or even not eating at all on your energy supply. There are better ways to get to work on time: going to bed on time, for example. Without energy you are like a car without petrol.
4. A morning ritual
Just as children need a ritual to get them ready for bed at night, we also need something to spring into action in the morning. Reading the newspaper, meditating or surfing the net, we need some time for ourselves in the morning.
5. Finish the hardest tasks first
After your morning ritual you are ready to fly in. Start with the hardest tasks while you’re still full of energy. Especially if you are a morning person. Once that’s done, you can go about the rest of the day with a good feeling (you’ve already done something very useful!).
6. Avoid Morning Meetings
The morning is the most productive part of the day for the majority. If you have something to say about scheduling meetings, don’t schedule them in the morning. An exception: when the meeting is the most important task of the day, it is a good idea to do this when everyone is well rested.
7. Pause
Starting early is half done, isn’t it? Give yourself a reward when you’ve had a productive morning: stretch your legs outside, have a coffee, surf the internet or chat with a colleague. Taking a 10-minute break every now and then will only improve your workday. You cannot fully concentrate all day, otherwise you will look for that distraction during your work, and that seriously undermines your productivity.